1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a jig for guiding a hand saw when cutting tails and pins in boards to make a dovetail joint between two perpendicular boards when making items such as drawers and boxes. More particularly, the invention relates to a portable jig for cutting both tails and pins in boards for making a dovetail joint between two boards. Both the tails and the pins in the dovetail joint are properly spaced along the edges of the boards and accurately dimensioned so that the pins and tail slots fit snugly together when the wooden drawer, box or other item is assembled. Use of the jig makes it possible to repeatedly cut both the tails and the pins along the edges of boards with consistent accuracy and without measuring or time consuming layout.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Devices for cutting tails and pins to form a dovetail joint are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 592,139; 1,541,134 and 3,057,383. The devices disclosed in the latter two patents are directed to complex jigs having complicated aligning and clamping arrangements for holding a board to be cut in position and requiring accurate location of a board in the device prior to making a cut. Because of their complexity and resultant high cost and the detailed and accurate adjustment required, these devices are not practical for use by relatively unskilled home craftsmen. The devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 592,139 are relatively simply but are not practical because four individual miter boxes are required to cut the tails and the pins, and it requires detailed and accurate adjustment of a gage block on the end of each miter box to position the boards in the miter box so that sequential cuts will be properly spaced and are consistently repeatable. Additionally, the devices disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 592,139 require measurements and layout prior to cutting both the pins and the tails. The measurements must be accurately repeated which increases the probability of error in cutting sequential pins and tails which must have consistent size and spacing to form a tight dovetail joint.